Developing a new story to tell

My family and I moved. We drove from St. Paul, MN to Hickory, NC in August 2012. Since then my husband has been graciously staying home with our son while I’ve started working as a marketing director for a healthcare staffing company.

We left the MidWest really excited to be close to family and to be back close to the mountains we love. Asheville and everything that surrounds this magical place. The beer, people, sustainable food movement. Everything. What we are slowly realizing is that Asheville isn’t the only place with cool things happening. Awesome businesses, brew pubs, and projects are happening right here in Catawba Valley.

I think that when we tell people where we moved to and why, they don’t understand. I think I say ‘Hickory, NC’ and people hear ‘Hickville-no-where-town, USA.’ This my friends, is not the case.

I have had the privileged of meeting with some great businesses, entrepreneurs, recent graduates, and hopeful marketers in Catawba County and those conversations have been some of the best I’as had in the past few months. These gatherings usually end up talking about how we can showcase the many and diverse talents and attractions of the area. Instead of focusing on the story of what we were, envisioning how we tell the story of what we are now and what we’re becoming.

Various groups are looking to improve development and decrease the ‘brain drain’ that is happening in this region.

Catawba County is full of stories of ‘what was’, not people are talking about what can be the future of the county. We should always remember what was, but instead of dwelling, we should build on that story.